* Acts 16:9-15 * Psalm 67 * Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 * John 14:23-29

I’d like you to think for a moment of the one thing that would make the most positive difference in your life. Maybe it’s a particular item or object, possibly it’s a change in a particular situation, or maybe it’s the restoration of a relationship. All of these, we might individually consider to be a ‘good’ thing.

The opening line to the collect for this the sixth Sunday after Easter ascribes to God – and only God – the ability to give us all good things that surpass our understanding, that exceed all that we can desire.

O God, from whom all good things arise..

Exceeding all that we can desire? Just how is that possible?

Most of the time, we live lives that are a compromise between happiness and sorrow, joy and discouragement. This roller coaster kind of existence can be a challenge to our faith and a denial of good things that surpass our understanding, and God knows this.

The whole of the Easter season has been about equipping us with powerful tools of faith to defeat the forces that would drag us down.

There are post-resurrection stories of a group of defeated fishermen who end up going back to their lives of fishing, only to discover the risen Jesus meeting them for breakfast.

There are the travellers walking to Emmaus encountering a stranger who turns out to be Jesus, who breaks bread with them. They discover their hearts gladdened. These are experiences opened to us, too.

So, where do these good things come from?

You can’t find them on ebay or place an Amazon order for them but you can hear them, experience them, and find them in the community of faith, the Easter community.

The early Christians learned that they could face persecution, possible arrest, trial, and even execution because of the power of the resurrection that they had found in the Easter community.

They also learned that what happened to them was of little account, because they placed themselves under the gracious God who delivered them from the pall of darkness in their lives.

Today, we hear about Lydia, a woman of obvious wealth – purple cloth was used for high officials and nobility – and how she embraces Paul and invites him to come and stay in her house. She knows something is missing in her otherwise successful life, and when she hears about Jesus, she discovers an abundant God who fills the empty place in her heart, and she invites God in.

And we listen as Jesus teaches the disciples about what will happen after he leaves them. God will send an advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will do two things: teach and remind.

The Spirit will teach us how God wants for us and gives us the good things we need, even when we don’t know what they are or how to ask for them.

Many of us face challenging and hard times in our lives. Times when we can feel we personally have ‘failed’ because of what has happened. A change in employment circumstances, a breakdown in a relationship, these things and more can leave us feeling that we are a failure.

Sometimes it’s hard, but that’s exactly the time when we need to lean on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who will remind us, especially when things are not going well, what really matters and to whom we belong.

Our faith community, our Christian family must be the place where we are restored, not just in the sense of feeling good, but deep in the very depths of our hearts.

The sign of the cross, the breaking of the bread at communion, the hymns (read the words even if you don’t sing), and the Scriptures are all reminders of how much we are loved and cherished and redeemed.

As a wise bishop once said, “Human beings solve problems; God redeems messes.” All of us think we can fix things, but often the mess overwhelms us. We are reminded, as the disciples were after the death of Jesus, that God redeems messes – and that includes each of us.

Good things have been turned into a commodity. They are scarce, and you have to be able to pay for them. At least that is what we are told by ads on Television and even stories in the news. Go to this lawyer, join that exercise class, buy this or that appliance for your comfort – the list is endless – and expensive.

God has another way that is based on abundance. God gives us what we need, always providing for us those things which cannot be bought or bargained for.

They are things that endure – hope, faith, love, fellowship, and friends. They are qualities like peace and wisdom and courage.

God gives us these gifts through the Spirit, and God also gives us the ability to find them in others. The world is full of them, though often they are masked by our focus on the news of anger and darkness.

So, here are some ways you can, like Lydia, be faithful to the Lord and receive the abundance of good things God has for you:

First of all, expect those good things.

The Beloved, the one who created you, the one at whose birth the angels sang, loves you. So, begin to expect good things. They are not earned, they are freely given. And perhaps you have neglected to see them right there in front of you in the person you love, the people you work with, and the beauty that surrounds you daily. Trust me, the more you find yourself saying, “God will bless me today,” the more you will see it happen.

This week, in our church calendar we mark Rogation Days, the days of planting and hallowing of creation. So, why not plant something – a tree or a plant or even a seed, and nurture it.

Doing this might reconnect you with the earth and the blessings of creation, and it will remind you that we are all dependent on the rain and the soil and the sun given by the Creator for us all.

Maybe think about how you are going to reduce your contribution to the world’s waste problem and ask God to guide you in your actions so that it becomes a partnership with God and others. It will also honour the creation as God’s gift.

And finally, expect more serenity in your life. Serenity is a quality often denied us, but much of the time we actually deny it to ourselves.

God wants our lives to be lived in serenity, but we have to claim it as a gift so freely given. Why not use the well know serenity prayer each day this week:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

The “good things” that surpass our understanding are waiting to be claimed and celebrated by all of us. Awaken to their presence, claim them as your spiritual inheritance, and live them in witness to the risen Lord.